Mike Moroney is looking forward to the return to the racetrack of Elkington Road after a setback ruled him out of the spring.
Elkington Road runs in the Catanach’s Jewellers Handicap (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday in which he will be joined by stablemate Jungle Jim.
A winner of three races on wet tracks, Moroney said Elkington Road had overcome little issues’ and was looking forward to seeing the gelding on top of the ground.
“We were thinking this is not the right time of the year to bring him back because he wants give in the ground,” Moroney said.
“But those issues seem to have gone past him now and I’ve trialled him on top of the ground and he’s been impressive, and he’s shown no signs of jarring up on the firmer ground.”
Elkington Road showed an abundance of early ability, winning his first two starts on heavy ground at Sandown and Flemington before running tenth in the Caulfield Guineas, beaten 1-¾ lengths.
He returned in the autumn, finishing fourth in the CS Hayes Stakes at Flemington first-up and was beaten 3-¼ lengths in the Australian Guineas, before winning on soft ground at Sandown later on.
“He’s come back terrific. I think he’s in for a really good campaign and I think he’s an under-rated horse,” Moroney said.
Stablemate Jungle Jim already has a run under the belt and Moroney said the sprinter will be in for a busy summer campaign.
Jungle Jim finished sixth to Taunting at Cranbourne on November 25 with the trainer saying the sprinter was underdone for his first-up assignment.
“He usually takes a run, and we went into the race off one jump-out,” Moroney said.
“We decided to use that race rather give him another jump-out as we knew he would be in for a bit of racing over the summer.
“He’s had a lot go wrong. He’s had two wind operations, but he’s got through those fine, that’s why he’s lightly raced, but he’s got some talent on his day.
“He’ll probably lead. He’s a very fast horse. He’s got good barrier speed and there’s not many that can head him off early.”